Stress and ethnic identity in ethnic minority youth in the Netherlands

In this article emotional problems - operationalized in terms of well-being and feelings of stress/depression - were investigated in secondary school pupils in the Netherlands. Girls, both autochthonous and allochthonous, appear to have more emotional problems than boys. Educational levels did not have an effect on emotional problems. Allochthonous pupils reported more emotional problems than autochthonous pupils. The difference was most pronounced between allochthonous pupils and autochthonous pupils in ethnic authchthonous ("white") schools. Ethnic self-identification is not by itself related to feelings of well-being or stress, but appears to serve as a moderator in this respect: in ethnic minority youngsters with a bicultural orientation (identification with both their own ethnic group and the Dutch), no effect of ethnic attitudes on stress was found, while in those identifying solely with their own ethnic group, negative attitudes towards their own group or towards the Netherlands increases feelings of stress.